Star Trek:Odyssey 11:Where Angels Fear to Tread
by rylansato
Summary: The Federation was caught off guard by an assault from the Terran Empire. Admiral Tracy now makes plans to retaliate against the Empire and get their foothold out of Federation space.
1. Betazed

Star Trek: Odyssey: Where Angels Fear to Tread

_Captain's Log: Stardate: 57900.2. The Alexandria is currently stationed Betazed along with the rest of the ninth fleet consisting of one hundred and twelve starships. We are waiting for the final ships to arrive before we head off to Starbase 211. I have been placed in charge of the fleet and am awaiting orders to go against the Terran Empire._

Allensworth sat in his ready room going over ship reports. It really wasn't the fact that he was bored; it was more due to the fact that it was monotonous. He leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. He stood up and stared out the window. He stared at the Betazoid home world. It looked so much like Earth from orbit as well as on the surface. Normally, he'd allow a bit of shore leave while in orbit but due to the fact that there was a war going on, he couldn't take the chance of being caught like that. Just then the intercom kicked on.

"Captain, the Oregon, Rabin, and the Cheyenne have arrived." Sparhawk said.

"On my way, Commander."

Elsewhere, the doors to Hoshi Sato's quarters opened, then closed, they opened and then closed again. They opened and an arm appeared but was pulled back into the room and the doors closed once again. The doors opened again and Dustin and Hoshi walked out of her quarters. As soon as they stepped out, they saw Ensign Stull walking by. The two turned a bit red and straightened their posture to show a more professional form. The ensign wasn't stupid, she knew better than that. She just nodded to the two of them.

"Commanders." She said with a nod.

"Ensign." Sato and Zofchak said in unison.

Michelle turned the corner and headed down the corridor while Dustin and Hoshi headed for the turbo lift. The doors opened and they entered the turbo lift. They saw that Commander Merriell was also in there, more than likely on his way to the bridge as well. At first, the trip to the bridge was silent, until Alex broke the silence.

"You might want to zip up your turtleneck."

Dustin felt the collar of his yellow undershirt and realized that it was in fact unzipped. Hoshi noticed that Dustin turned a bit red when he zipped it up. Merriell smiled as he faced forward as the lift came to a halt.

The doors opened and the three stepped on to the bridge. Hoshi sat down at her station as Dustin stood at the engineering console nearby. Alex was the last to step off. He stood next to Zofchak before proceeding to his station.

"So, you and Hoshi…"

"I have no comment." Dustin replied.

The two smiled at each other before Alex walked to his station. He sat down just as Allensworth walked out of the ready room.

Allensworth walked out onto the bridge and headed for his command chair. He looked at who was stationed at Navigation so that he wouldn't call out the wrong name and offend the officer.

"Lt. Moran, set a course for Starbase two eleven, maximum warp."

"Aye, sir." She said. "Course laid in."

"Hoshi, send a message to all ships 'we are moving out'."

"Aye, sir."

Before he was able to give the command to head out, another set of beeping filled the bridge.

"Sir," Merriell said. "We've got multiple ships coming in at one eight four mark five nine two."

"What?"

Just then the ship was rocked by multiple torpedo hits. The navigation console exploded, sending Moran to the floor.

"Christine, take the helm. Get us out of orbit."

Christine Nycz jumped out of her chair and got to the navigation station as fast as she could.

The Alexandria left orbit and performed evasive maneuvers to avoid more torpedoes and phaser fire.

"Report."

"We have a fleet of Terran ships consisting of two hundred starships."

"They outnumber us two to one." Sparhawk said.

"Looks like that each of us will have to destroy two ships a piece." Allensworth said. "Lock on to the nearest Terran ship and fire."

Admiral Tracy stood in her office going over reports from the different departments from within the starbase. She picked up her cup of coffee and took a small sip of it thinking it was going to be hot. A lot more time had passed than what she had realized because her hot coffee was now ice cold. She damn near spit it out but held back the urge so that she didn't spit it all over the carpet or her desk. She forced her self to drink it and then took the cup back to the replicator. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to get another cup since it might be awhile before she was able to take another drink and then she'd be in the same boat again. She watched the cup dematerialize in the replicator before turning back to her desk. As soon as she turned, there was a chime at her door.

"Come in."

The door opened revealing Lieutenant Commander Nate Littleton. He was in the command division and was practically an aide to the Admiral.

"What is it, Commander?" She asked.

"Sir, we just received word from the ninth fleet."

"The ninth fleet? Weren't they in orbit around Betazed and on their way here?"

"Yes, sir. They were attacked by Terran forces before leaving Betazed. Only thirteen ships made it, sir."

"Thirteen? Out of a hundred and twelve."

"And there's more, sir."

"More?"

"The Terran Empire has taken Betazed."


	2. Flashback

The damaged thirteen starships slowly moved through space as they headed for Starbase 211. Captain Allensworth stepped onto the bridge just as Hoshi's station started beeping.

"Sir, we have an incoming transmission from Starbase two eleven. It's Admiral Tracy."

"I'll take it in my ready room." The captain said as he walked across the bridge to his ready room.

Allensworth sat down and activated his console. A screen slid out of the table and the blank screen changed into the face of Admiral Tracy.

"Admiral."

"How are you and your crew holding up?"

"Not too bad considering we ran with our tails tucked."

"Thirteen ships made it out. What happened?"

"Well Admiral, it happened like this…"

FLASHBACK

Sparks shot from consoles as the Alexandria struggled to get her shields up.

"Lock on to the nearest Terran ship and fire." Allensworth ordered.

Fulks did as he was told. The nearest ship was a Defiant class starship. He came swooping in firing its pulse phasers. The shields of the Alexandria took multiple hits but returned fire with its own phasers. The Defiant class ship maneuvered around its very large opponent and positioned itself behind the port nacelle. It opened fire on the nacelle.

"Fire aft torpedoes."

Three torpedoes fired from their aft launcher and struck their opponent. The Defiant class ship exploded into a ball of flames. The Alexandria's next target was an Akira class ship.

The rest of the Federation fleet had also begun returning fire against the Imperial fleet. The Austrailia, and Oregon teamed up and took out an Imperial Galaxy class ship while the Ambassador Class USS Zhukov wheeled around and fired at the nacelles of the mirror version of another Ambassador class. The nacelles blew out and then the Zhukov aimed its phasers at the bridge, thus destroying the Imperial starship.

"Well done, Mister Osgood." The Captain said.

"There's another ship bearing on us. It's the ISS Enterprise."

"Evasive mane…"

The mirror version of the Federation Flagship opened fire and destroyed the Zhukov. It turned around just in time to see the Nebula class USS Endeavour come in firing its weapons. Both ships took damage but it was the Enterprise that came out on top. Its next target was the USS Ajax.

The USS Solent swung around and fired phasers and photon torpedoes at its Excelsior class opponent. The USS Berlin came in to help and the two ships destroyed the Imperial ship. Suddenly, the Berlin erupted into a ball of flames and debris. Another Imperial Intrepid class ship flew through the debris. The ISS Voyager turned its attention on the Solent and the two locked themselves in battle.

"Status report." Allensworth said.

"The fleet is taking heavy casualties. We're down to sixty-two starships." Merriell said.

"Damn, we've lost half of our forces. How many ships do they have?"

"One hundred seventy."

"Order all ships to retreat."

Seconds later, the acknowledgement came through.

"All ships acknowledge, sir." Hoshi said.

All of the Federation ships turned and left the battle scene.

The mirror Picard stood on the bridge and watched the leaving Federation Starships.

"Where in the hell do they think they're going?"

"Daniels, lock targets on any ships of your choosing and fire the transphasic torpedo. Also, send a message to the other ships to fire their transphasic torpedoes and also I want to leave thirteen starships. I want them to go back to Starfleet Command and tell them what happened today."

"Aye, sir."

The ISS Enterprise as well as the other ships of the Empire fired multiple transphasic torpedoes. Each torpedo struck a different starship and each torpedo punched through their shields and slammed into the hull. Some torpedoes struck the bridges of the ships and others hit the engineering sections. Each ship exploded into a massive explosion. Two other ships were caught in the explosions and they too exploded.

"We're down to thirteen ships, sir." Merriell said.

"GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!" Allensworth ordered.

The remaining ships leapt into warp, leaving their opponents victorious.

Allensworth pressed a button on his command chair's arm. "All senior officers report to the conference room."

As soon as he lifted his finger to clear the intercom, another voice came in.

"Plumley to Allensworth."

"Go ahead, Doctor."

"Sir, request permission to remain in sickbay. I'm needed down here."

"Of course, Doctor. We'll fill you in later. Allensworth out."

Minutes later, all of the senior officers sat in the conference room with the exception of Doctor Plumley.

"What the hell happened on that last attack?" Allensworth said.

"They used transphasic torpedoes." Merriell said.

"I'm not too familiar with the specs of the transphasic torpedo." Hoshi said.

Merriell looked across the tableto Hoshi.

"The transphasic torpedoes generate a destructive subspace compression pulse. Upon detonation the torpedo delivers the pulse in an asymmetric superposition of multiple phase states. Shields can only block one subcomponent of the pulse. The other subcomponents deliver the majority of the pulse to the target. Every torpedo has a different transphasic configuration, generated randomly by a dissonant feedback effect. This was used at first to prevent the Borg from predicting the configuration of the phase states." Merriell said.

Hoshi was impressed that Alex could recite that from memory.

"We originally got the specs to fight the Borg but it would appear that we'd have to start using them against the Empire."

"Why didn't they use them from the start?" Nycz asked.

"Probably because their ships don't have enough to take out all of us." Fulks said. "They probably wanted to wait until he gained the upper hand before they got desperate to use them. That would explain why we're still here."

"They allowed us to live." Sparhawk said. "They could've easily destroyed us but they didn't and it's not like they didn't have the means to."

"Why didn't we use ours?" Hoshi asked.

"Because we want to keep this ace in the hole as long as possible. This was one thing the Borg hadn't adapted to and we use them as a last resort." Zofchak said.

"But this is war, and they aren't the Borg and they used the torpedoes on us so why not use it on them?" Hoshi asked.

"Because the Borg have a tendency for showing up unannounced." Allensworth said. "We don't want to waste our compliment of transphasic torpedoes on the Empire and then get attacked by the Borg sometime during this war." Allensworth said before looked to his chief engineer and changed the subject. "How's Engineering?"

"We're fine down there. It was a mess but we've got things back together. We could go another round right now if we wanted to."

Allensworth nodded. "Good. We're headed to Starbase Two eleven and we'll figure out what to do next from there. If they're no further questions, dismissed."

The senior officers stood up and left the conference room.

END FLASHBACK

"What is the current status of the remaining ships?" Admiral Tracy asked.

"Including us, the Solent, Crazy Horse, Malinche, Budapest and the Appalachia are repaired and ready to go while the remaining seven are still in need of repair and still need time before they are to do anything else."

Tracy nodded. "I'm assigning your ship and the other aforementioned ships to rendezvous with the sixth and seventh fleet that are moving towards your position as we speak. The other ships are to stay on course and arrive here. Once you rendezvous, you are to take command of the combined fleet and head back to Betazed. The Imperial forces won't expect us to retaliate so soon."

Allensworth nodded. "Aye, sir."

"Good luck, Captain. Tracy out."

The Admiral's face was replaced with the Federation logo. Allensworth stood up and exited his ready room.

"Captain." Sparhawk said as he entered the bridge.

Allensworth looked at him and saw his first officer nod to the screen. Allensworth looked and saw the sixth and seventh fleets.

"Send a message to the remaining ships of the ninth fleet and tell the Solent, Appalachia, Budapest, Malinche and Crazy Horse to join this fleet while the others are to stay on course to Starbase Two eleven."

"Aye, sir." Hoshi said.

The remainder of the ninth fleet split up. Seven stayed on course while the other six joined the other fleet. The Alexandria took the lead position and led the fleet back to Betazed.


	3. Favor The Bold

The ISS Enterprise orbited the planet of Betazed, the mirror Picard stood on the bridge of his Enterprise with his hands behinds his back. He paced around slightly bored. He was awaiting final confirmation from the Emperor himself to destroy planets that are home to telepathic species. Their first attempt was foiled when their Alexandria appeared in this universe near Talos but they were thwarted by the Federation.

While they were waiting, a beeping came from the Ops console.

"Sir," the young Lieutenant Commander said. "More of our ships are coming in through one of our anomalies."

"Excellent. Send a message to them having them rendezvous with the rest of the fleet at the edge of this sector." Picard said.

"Aye, sir."

The officer did as he was told and the ships responded. They all leapt into warp. Then another beeping came from the ops console. Picard looked back curiously.

"What is it now?"

"Sir, the Federation has a fleet headed this way."

"How many ships?"

"Nine hundred seventy four ships."

Picard just shrugged and sat down in his captain's chair. "No need to worry. Not a single ship will make here before we start destroying this planet."

Meanwhile, the Federation forces headed towards the edge of the sector. The ships ranged from all classes still in service. The fleet mainly consisted of Excelsior, Galaxy, Miranda, Akira and Steamrunner classes. However, there were a good amount Nova, Prometheus and Defiant class ships as well. They even had the two man crew Peregrine class fighters. Leading the way was the USS Alexandria. The ship was repaired rather quickly and ready for another fight.

Merriell was on his way back to the bridge. He had to stop by sickbay because of an injury he sustained during the previous battle. However, due to the look on his face there was something troubling him more than his shoulder.

FLASHBACK

He walked into sickbay with his right hand holding his left shoulder. He looked around and saw that the nurses and doctors had just finished with most of the crews injuries. There were several still around but none of them appeared to have major injuries. One thing did catch his eye, was that Doctor Plumley was putting a sheet over Lieutenant Kit Moran's face. When she went down on the bridge from the exploding console, he didn't realize the extent of his injuries. He's had multiple consoles explode in his face and he's still standing but she had one and it killed her. He lowered his head and leaned against a wall. He then lightly hit the wall with his fist.

_Damn it._

"What can I do for you, Commander?"

Alex looked up to see Doctor Plumley standing there.

"Could you take a look at my shoulder?"

She pulled out a tricorder and examined it.

"I landed on it during that last attack. I can move it just fine but the pain is getting to be annoying. I don't want to worry about it when we go into battle again."

She looked up from her tricorder at him and saw where he was looking. He was looking over her shoulder to Kit's body on the bio bed. She turned around and realized what had his attention.

"You two were close?"

"We were professionally. We had meals together from time to time but nothing really major."

Plumley nodded. "I have to go get the hypospray." She walked off and Alex walked towards Kit's body.

He stood over it and pulled back the sheet. Her face was blackened from the burns and a bit bloody. He wasn't too sure on what to say. He and Kit weren't exactly close but they were friends none the less. Aside from Ensign Stull, he always looked forward to the shifts they had together.

_We'll beat them, Kit. I'll make them pay for this._

He was so into his thoughts that he didn't hear Plumley approach. He didn't realize she was there until she pressed the hypospray to his shoulder. The hiss that sounded the release of the medicine into his shoulder fully snapped him out of his trance. The pain was instantly gone.

"Wow, that worked. Thanks, doc."

"I always love that surprised reaction when the hypospray works. It's priceless."

Alex turned back to the fallen Kit Moran and replaced the sheet over her head.

"I'm sorry, Commander." Plumley said.

Alex nodded to her. "Thank you, Doctor." He said before leaving sickbay and heading back to the bridge.

END FLASHBACK

The turbolift doors opened and Merriell walked onto the bridge. His station was occupied by Kell Perim who rose to her feet and left when he approached. He sat down and saw that navigation was now occupied by Ensign Stull. He smiled to her before looking down at his console.

"Sir, I'm picking something up. It's a large Terran fleet. Heading zero zero four mark zero zero nine."

"How large?" Allensworth asked.

"Twelve hundred fifty four ships."

"Bloody hell." Stull said to herself. She thought she had said it quietly enough for only her to hear but apparently Merriell had heard it too judging by the look on his face when he looked at her.

"At least they don't outnumber us that terribly." Sparhawk said.

"On screen." Allensworth said calmly.

The screen changed to show the Imperial fleet. A wall of ships of the Terran Empire sat there waiting for their Federation counterparts. It was truly an awesome sight to behold. Allensworth pressed a button on the arm of his command chair and opened a channel to the Federation fleet. He would normally have Hoshi do it but he felt like doing it this time.

"To all ships, this is Captain Allensworth. Assume attack formation Delta-seven."

The red alert klaxon sounded as everyone on the bridge took their eyes off the screen and went to work. Allensworth interlocked his fingers in front of his face.

"There's an old saying, 'Fortune favors the bold.' I suppose we're about to find out."


	4. Getting Through

The fleet of the Terran Empire seemed to stretch so far and wide that it seemed capable of engulfing the Federation fleet. The Federation fleet moved towards the waiting wall of the Terran Empire. The Peregrine class fighters assumed their positions at the head of the fleet.

Merriell remembered a story from the Dominion war that Miles O'Brien had told him when they were attacking a Dominion fleet to take back Deep Space Nine. O'Brien had told him a poem that he and Bashir had recited right before the attack.

"Cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon in front of them, volleyed and thundered."

"Stormed at with shot and shell, boldly they rode and well, into the Jaws of Death, into the Mouth of Hell…rode the Six Hundred."

Merriell looked back and saw Zofchak smiling. "I talked with O'Brien about that battle too. Plus, that's a poem called The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Tennyson. It was about the disastrous charge of the British cavalry against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in eighteen fifty-four."

"Thanks for the history lesson, Commander." Nycz said.

"No problem, Counselor."

Allensworth opened a channel to the fleet. "Allensworth to all ships. Excelsior and Galaxy wings, drop to half impulse. You too, Ensign."

"Half impulse, sir." Stull said.

"Attack fighters, tactical pattern Omega. Once you've gotten them to break formation split into squadrons and run like hell."

"Attack fighters in Omega formation. Excelsior and Galaxy wings, at half impulse." Merriell said.

"Allensworth to attack fighters. Prepare to engage on my command."

The Peregrine class fighters moved around waiting for the word.

Allensworth's expression tightened. "Attack fighters, full impulse. Fire at will."

The Imperial fleet opens fire on the approaching Federation attack fighters. The first wave of Federation fighters lets loose a barrage of quantum torpedoes at the center of the Imperial lines. Some of the fighters are hit and destroyed, the rest follow Allensworth's plan and break formation, splitting off in all directions.

"Commander Sato, send in the second wave."

"Aye, sir. Second wave on its way. Third and fourth waves on standby."

"Merriell, have Akira units seven and nine move in closer, the fighters need more cover fire. Hoshi, tell Captains Hinton and Tyo to stay alert the Empire may try to outflank us."

The mirror Picard looked at the tactical screen. "Allensworth is a very persistent."

"That's the seventh wave of fighters he's sent into battle." La Forge said.

"What his he planning?" Daniels asked.

"He's trying to get our ships to break formation. He wants to get in to the formation and beat us from within. I plan to make our ships break formation and we'll enclose him."

A wave of attack fighters flew in unleashing a barrage of quantum torpedoes on a Galaxy class ship before they sped away under heavy fire. The saucer section of the ship exploded and the ship lost control and fell from the lines.

A few Akira class ships took off after the attack fighters.

"Sir, a few Akira class ships are breaking formation and going after the fighters." Merriell said.

Allensworth walked up behind Merriell and looked at his console.

"Sir, do you see those Galaxy class ships…" Merriell asked.

"I see them."

"You think they're baiting us?" Sparhawk asked.

Allensworth turned around. "We really don't have a choice. If we want to strike we have to do it now."

"Sato, have Galaxy wings nine four and nine eight engage their counterparts. All other ships fight your way through. Anyone who gets through doesn't stop till they reach Betazed."

The Alexandria along with the rest of the fleet move in formation towards the Empire's lines. Both fleets engage each other. The firing becomes general as both sides unleash their weapons. The ships are so close that every shot seems to find a target.

An Imperial Galaxy class fired its phasers at the incoming ships. All of a sudden a Federation Galaxy class appeared in front of it and fired its phasers, striking multiple spots of its saucer section. Another Galaxy class appeared out from its ally's shadow and opened fire as well on the Imperial starship.

The Alexandria flew past more enemy ships firing at anyone of them that got in its way. It took out two Miranda class ships, a Saber class and a Norway class. The Alexandria was being followed by three of its allies, a Saber, a Centaur class and a Springfield class.

Suddenly, a transphasic torpedo struck the saucer section of the Centaur class and ripped through where the bridge was placed. The ship spun out of control before ultimately exploding. More phaser fire shot from beneath the ships and hit the Saber class. The Saber class tried to move out of the beam's path but the beam stayed on it, ripping through its hull and then in half. The Springfield class starship met its end at the hands of five Miranda class starships. The Springfield was able to take out one of the ships before being destroyed.

"Sir, we just lost the Rhames, the Astris and the Buckner. We have four Imperial Mirandas on us now."

The Alexandria made several sharp, evasive maneuvers and drilled one of the Imperial ships with its photon torpedoes destroying it. The remaining three Imperial Miranda class ships locked onto the Alexandria's tail.

"That's one down." Fulks said.

"Can you shake the other three, Ensign?" Allensworth asked.

"I'm working on it, sir."

"We've lost aft shields. Forward shields down to fifty-three percent." Merriell said.

Sparks erupted from consoles all over the bridge. Smoke poured out conduits.

"Divert auxiliary power to weapons. We're going to fight our way through."

The Alexandria continued to avoid enemy phaser fire. The following Miranda classes couldn't seem to get a clear shot at the Sovereign class.

Suddenly, the three Miranda classes exploded.

"It's the Eleventh fleet, sir. Being led by the Thunderchild."

"Sir," Hoshi said. "We're being hailed by Captain Stork."

"On screen."

"Captain Allensworth, I'm sorry we're late for the party. We were in the Tagra Sector when we heard about the battle."

"I'm just glad you could join the party. Drinks are on me, Captain."

"Good to know. Thunderchild out."

Captain Stork sat down in his command chair. "Now let's give these Imperial bastards something else to shoot at. Lock phasers, and open fire."

More Imperial ships were being destroyed now that the eleventh fleet had arrived. The Alexandria continued firing its weapons at the enemy vessels along with the Thunderchild. Together they destroyed a Galaxy class starship and now that was in front of them was open space.

"Who else made it through?"

"The Thunderchild, Solent, and Katana."

"We can't wait for more ships to get through. Set a course for Betazed, maximum warp."

The four starships leapt into warp heading for Betazed.


	5. Enterprise Incident

"Sir, four Federation starships have broken through the lines and are headed this way." Daniels said.

"Which ones?" Picard asked.

"Alexandria, Thunderchild, Solent and Katana."

"Sir, we've just received word from the Emperor. He says proceed with the destruction of Betazed."

An evil grin appeared on the mirror Picard's face.

"Arm quantum torpedoes and fire when ready."

Daniels entered the appropriate commands into this console and then the ISS Enterprise fired four quantum torpedoes at the planet. About half a minute later, the blue colored torpedoes slammed into the surface of Betazed, each yield a little more than 50 isotons which the four of them could lay waste to almost half the planet.

"Ready the next barrage." Picard ordered.

"Sir, we've got multiple starships coming in."

"Forget the planet. Fire a transphasic torpedo where one of the ships will come out of warp."

Daniels did as he was told and fired a transphasic torpedo. The ships came out of warp and the first ship that was struck by the torpedo was the Saber class Katana. Its bridge took a direct hit and exploded, seconds later the rest of the ship followed.

The other three ships opened fire on the Enterprise.

"The Federation ships have opened fire on us." Daniels said.

"Obviously." Picard said.

"Lock phasers and return fire."

The mirror Enterprise fired phasers and struck the Solent. The Alexandria and Thunderchild came about and opened fire as well. They hammered away at the Enterprise's shields.

"Our shields are collapsing." Daniels reported.

"Keep firing." Picard ordered. "I have a plan."

The three Federation starships fired on the Enterprise as it began moving away.

"Sir," Merriell said. "Another interspacial anomaly is forming on the other side of the planet."

"They're turning tail and running." Sparhawk said.

The Federation ships stopped firing.

"We'll let them go for now." Allensworth said. "What's the damage on Betazed?"

"Those torpedoes they launched did some damage." Merriell reported. Another beeping filled the room. "Sir, the anomaly is no longer there."

"There's no way they entered it that fast." Allensworth said.

"The Enterprise is still on the other side of the planet." Alex said.

"We've got incoming." Fulks said.

"Move us away." Allensworth said.

They could see both the Thunderchild and the Solent on their view screen. Both ships were also moving away. Suddenly, the Solent burst into a ball of flames. Debris scattered away.

Hoshi's eyes were wide with shock. It wasn't just due to the fact that it was a surprise attack; it also had something to do with that Dustin's sister was an officer on board. She turned around to look at Dustin but he wasn't there.

Dustin ran down the corridor heading to the transporter room. On his way he opened an armory locker and pulled out a phaser rifle. He then proceeded on his way to the transporter room.

He entered the transporter room and stepped on the pad.

"Beam me to the Enterprise."

"Sir?"

"That's an order, Lieutenant."

The Lieutenant entered the controls and Dustin dematerialized from the transporter pad.

Picard had a malicious smile on his face as he saw the sensor readings about the destruction of the Solent.

"Captain, two hundred Federation ships have broken through our lines."

Suddenly the klaxon went off again on it wasn't the red alert it was the intruder alert.

"Intruder alert, deck sixteen. Security detail to deck sixteen." Daniels said.

"Data, go."

Data nodded to his captain and then headed to the turbolift.

"Sir, another anomaly is opening and it would appear the Enterprise was headed for it but now it's holding position." Merriell said.

"That little prank they just pulled will leave him with one incredibly brassed off chief engineer." Stull said.

"Why's that, Ensign?" Allensworth asked.

"Commander Zofchak's sister served on that ship."

"That's right." Allensworth said turning around to see his chief engineer missing. "Damn it."

Dustin ran down the corridors of the mirror Enterprise, firing at any crewmember he saw. He didn't care what division or department they were in. They were mirror versions therefore they were evil. He was pretty much correct. Suddenly he was met with a group of security officers. He fired first and hit one of them square in the chest.

He stepped behind the wall for cover and returned fire. He hit two more officers and then ducked back behind the wall. There were about five officers left. He turned back around to fire. After taking down two more officers, he felt someone grab the back of his neck. In an instant he was lifted into the air and thrown into the wall. He looked up to see Commander Data.

It was a good thing and a bad thing to see Commander Data. The good thing was that he could see an old friend again. The bad thing was that it wasn't the Commander Data he knew from his Enterprise. He knew that this Data was more evil and ruthless.

Data turned to the security team. "Go. I will handle this."

"But Commander."

Data pulled out his phaser and fired at one of the officers, vaporizing him.

"I said go."

Without another word the security team left the scene leaving Dustin and Data alone.

Dustin shot to his feet and aimed his phaser. Data was too quick for him. Data grabbed the end of the hand phaser and crushed it.

"Shit." Dustin said.

Data cocked his arm back and threw a punch at Dustin's head. The chief engineer ducked to avoid the disastrous blow. Dustin moved out from Data's reach, or so he thought. He felt the android grab his collar and throw him down the corridor. Dustin landed hard on his back. He stood up again ready to fight. He knew he had no chance of beating Data without some sort of weapon. He saw his phaser rifle lying on the ground past Data. He ran towards Data and leaned to the left, he then spun around to the right juking Data and he had a clear vision to the rifle. He grabbed it and was going to aim and fire but he could tell Data was too close for him to do that so he just swung the rifle like a bat. The first attack struck Data across the face but the second was caught by Data's hand.

The android pulled the weapon from Dustin's hands and threw down the corridor. Dustin backed up to the bulkhead now knowing fully that he had no chance against Data.

Suddenly, Dustin felt the effects of a transporter beam whisking him away. Data lunged to grab him but it was too late, Dustin was already gone.

Dustin rematerialized on the transporter pad. He looked around to see Commander Sparhawk and Commander Sato standing there.

"What the hell…?"

Hoshi didn't give him time to finish. She ran up to the pad and punched Dustin across the face. Dustin hit the pad hard.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Hoshi said. She started to cry when she saw Dustin start crying. She knelt down and hugged him tightly. "You can't leave me. We all need you."

Later that evening, Dustin sat in his quarters after getting reprimanded by Captain Allensworth. He never recalled seeing the captain that angry. He knew he deserved it. What he did was reckless but he was only human. He practically saw his sister die right before his eyes. He was the only one left of his siblings.

The door chimed.

"Come in." Dustin said almost expecting it to be Counselor Nycz.

The doors opened revealing Hoshi.

"How are you holding up?"

"Not too well. I just contacted my mom on Earth. She's taking it pretty hard as well."

"Well, the captain has the ship heading back to Earth for repairs and what not. He also said that you can attend your sister's funeral while you're there. Apparently, a few members of the crew have some funerals to attend."

Hoshi sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're coming, right?" He asked.

"Of course I am. What kind of question is that?"

Dustin let out a small smirk. "A stupid one obviously."

"I'm there for you, always." Hoshi said before planting a kiss on his cheek.

Captain Allensworth sat in his ready room filing his report on the battle and the events that took place immediately after.

Suddenly, the intercom kicked on. It was Counselor Nycz.

"Bridge to Captain Allensworth,"

"Go ahead, Counselor."

"We just receive a priority one message from Starfleet Command. The Terran Empire attacked the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards."

Allensworth's eyes widened. The Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards were one of the more important Starfleet ships construction facilities.

"Increase speed to warp nine point nine."

"Aye, sir."

Allensworth turned around in his chair and stared out the window to the streaking stars.

_The Terran Empire attacked Utopia Planitia which was in orbit around Mars. They got that close to Earth but why didn't they attack Starfleet Headquarters instead?_

The End


End file.
